By: Makin' It Marketing Staff
Are you a marketer or business owner trying to maximize your sales and profits? If so, it’s essential to understand two core processes – demand generation and lead generation.
They are often thought to be the same, but they are not. Both processes help marketers focus their efforts on high-potential customers while minimizing wasted time, money and resources pursuing unqualified leads; however, few people understand the difference between demand generation and lead generation.
Let's break it down.
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Demand Generation takes the first step - creating awareness, interest, and desire for what it is that you're offering! You won’t be collecting contact information when generating demand; instead, you’ll focus on sharing thought leadership by identifying your ideal clients' goals and challenges, providing them with expertise that earns their trust. Have your content approach them from an emotional standpoint, and remember, it’s not about what you do; it’s how your customers benefit.
A common mistake many companies make is focusing solely on lead generation. The problem with this approach is that they reduce their chances of converting to a percentage likely less than their market share. Why? Because no one really knows about their brand.
Use Demand Generation to build your brand awareness.
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Further down in your sales funnel, LEAD GENERATION identifies potential customers who are now considering you.
The goal here is to capture the contact information of those interested parties, which makes it easier for you to follow up with them and add them to targeted nurturing campaigns.
To make the most out of lead generation, creating clear and compelling calls-to-action on your website is crucial and using contact forms that aren't too long or complicated. Additionally, ensure all your pages and forms load quickly, so you don't lose potential customers due to slow loading times. With these tips in mind, you should be able to generate more leads and ultimately increase sales.
Lead generation is more effective at companies that also warm up their potential customers with demand generation. More time should be focused on demand generation because only 5% of your target audience is ready to buy now. Because brand awareness is strong with companies that use both methods, they experience less price sensitivity and shorter sales cycles.
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Here at Makin’ It Marketing, we can help you organize your marketing strategy and provide options for both demand generation and lead generation that are aligned with your business goals.
If you’d like to find out more, let's talk!
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